Believe it or not, being an otaku can be quite a time drain. In addition to keeping up the Austin Otaku blog, my spare time is filled with a variety of activities, from anime to social engagements. I present Exhibit A – a summary of the things that will be...
In Austin, you have to expect that each store you want to visit as an otaku (or anyone for that matter) is far removed from the next store you want to visit. Austin has truly mastered the art of urban sprawl. So it’s a pleasant surprise to find a good source for...
Having joined the Japan-America Society of Greater Austin as part of my new commitment to learn Japanese, I decided to go to my first JASGA event this weekend – a Sushi Workshop. Jorge, the head sushi chef at Kenichi (419 Colorado St.), taught a large turn-out...
If I set my mind on something, I generally stick to it until I accomplish my goal. So, with my desire to learn the Japanese language, I did three things this week to overcome my own lack of initiative in my spare time to learn the language: I joined the Japan-America...
With more than 60 days per year over 100 degrees Fahrenheit, a poorly designed road system, terrible drivers, panhandlers on every street corner, and plenty of ignorant but proud Texans, not much about Austin can be considered kawaii (Japanese for “cute”)....
Each Spring, Austin (“The Live Music Capital of the World”) brings in musical talent from all over for its annual four-day music festival known as South-by-Southwest (SXSW). Of the 1400 people performing at dozens of venues throughout the city, some...
San Francisco is known for its wonderful cuisine, and the Japantown (Nihonmachi) neighborhood is no exception. Except that while the rest of San Francisco is dining on cioppino, clam chowder in bread bowls, and whole crabs, Japantown is eating more exotic fare,...
Asian Kung Fu Generation must have some friends in anime production world. Their songs have been used in hit shows like “Bleach”, “Naruto”, and “Full Metal Alchemist”, and I’m sure that didn’t hurt sales of their music....
The third trait of a “wapanese” person (“the term used to describe a person of non-japanese descent … who is incredibly obsessed with Japanese things”), according to the Urban Dictionary, is that they “Halfheartedly [study the]...
I’ve been mostly incommunicado for the past 5 days, not adding blog posts, not really tweeting on Twitter, and definitely not answering my phone. So where have I been? I have been in what is as close to an otaku’s/Japanophile’s paradise as you can...